Come to Me
by Carpe-D-M
Summary: Ally has a nightmare. Austin is there. ""Then why won't you tell me?" the singer demanded, slightly harsher than he really meant it to sound. "Because you died, Austin. And I watched it happen!" Established relationship, fluff abound. :) Rated T mostly for safe-caution.


**A/N: no idea where this came from. I've been listening to "You Can Come To Me" a lot recently. Anybody else desperate for a full version? :P Anyway. Enjoy! Fluff abound. POINTLESS, MOSTLY PLOTLESS FLUFF BUT I HOPE YOU ENJOY ANYWAY!**

**Warnings: Pre-established relationship and nightmares. Nightmares are a tad graphic, but nothing too bad, I don't think. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Austin. I do not own Ally. And I DEFINITELY do not own **_**Austin & Ally**_** the show nor any content affiliated with it. **

/

"D major chord, Austin," Ally Dawson corrected her boyfriend who was sitting at the piano in the practice room of Sonic Boom attempting to learn the chords for their newest song. It was 2:00 in the morning, but his concert was that same afternoon. Austin had gotten his parents' permission to stay overnight, and Ally's dad said that as long as Austin was with her, she could stay as well.

"Right," Austin said, nodding to himself as he repositioned his hands and played the chord before starting the chord progression for the refrain again. Austin wasn't sure how much time passed as he stumbled his way through the song over and over again.

"Hey, Ally-" Austin said after screwing up the third verse for the fifth time in a row. He turned around to ask his songwriter a question but stopped himself when he saw that she had fallen fast asleep. The clock on the wall showed Austin that it had gotten to be 3:00.

Austin smiled softly at Ally, curled up in a ball in the beanbag chair. The singer looked around the room before finding a blanket in the floor. He grabbed it, gently draping it over her before he slipped out of the practice room, turning the lights off as he left, and went to use the piano in the main store. He didn't want to wake her.

…

A scream jolted Austin out of his sleep. He shot up from where he'd been slumped over the piano, haven fallen asleep unintentionally. Austin's heart was pounding through the thin red cotton shirt he was wearing as his mind reminded him that it was a _scream_ that had caused Austin to wake up and _Ally was the only other person in the store_. The singer leapt to his feet and grabbed the first thing he saw to use as a weapon as he sprinted up the stairs.

He burst into the practice room with a yell, swinging the music stand that he had grabbed blindly before it occurred to him that nobody but Ally was the room. Austin, slightly embarrassed, set the music stand down. It wasn't until then, when the danger had passed and Dez's stories of ninjas and pirates kidnapping people had faded from the forefront of Austin's mind that he noticed Ally.

The songwriter was still curled up in a ball, but Austin could see the blanket trembling slightly and could hear Ally sniffling like she was fighting back tears.

"Ally?" he asked hesitantly, taking a step closer to her. Ally didn't reply, causing Austin to sigh. "Alls, I know you're awake."

Ally sniffed and sat up, pulling her knees up to her chest and tucking them under her chin. The blonde boy thought that her eyes looked a bit red, but the only light in the room was coming from the moonlight that was streaming through the windows, so Austin couldn't really be entirely sure.

"I'm sorry, Austin," Ally sighed. "I didn't mean to wake you."

"Are you okay?" Austin asked, ignoring the apology because it really wasn't necessary. The singer walked over to the brunette and crouched down next to her.

Ally let out a shaky sigh. "It was just a bad dream. I'm okay."

Austin let out a sigh and sat down next to Ally, placing a hand on her back. "What happened in it?"

Ally shook her head and rubbed the heel of her hand into her eyes. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Please, Alls?" Austin asked gently, and felt concern knot in his stomach when the question caused fresh tears to spring into her brown eyes.

"We should, um—we should practice," Ally said instead of answering, and tried to push herself up. Austin stayed sitting on the floor. His girlfriend looked down at him with an eyebrow quirked in confusion and slight annoyance but the blonde stayed where he was.

"Austin."

"Ally."

Austin pushed himself to his feet, and grabbed Ally's elbow when she turned towards the piano. Austin wasted no time in pulling her to his chest and holding there as new tears flooded Ally's eyes. Austin held on to her tightly, staying silent though he could practically feel his heart breaking just a little bit as Ally cried.

"This is stupid," Ally said suddenly, sniffing and pulling away.

Austin frowned. "What is?"

"This. Me. I dunno…" Ally shook her head, wiping her cheeks with the heel of her hand.

"Ally Dawson," Austin said firmly, "you may be a lot of things, but _stupid_ is definitely not one of them."

"We should practice. You've still got the concert in seven hours."

Austin rolled his eyes. "C'mon, Alls. You said it yourself: I've got seven whole hours and I've been working nonstop since like, eight. I could use a break."

Ally turned towards him and Austin instantly recognized the look on her face. It was a look that meant that Ally was keeping something from him or was trying to find an excuse. It was one of the few looks that Austin couldn't stand to see on Ally. They were supposed to trust each other with everything.

"You can take a nap, Austin. I, um…I need to reorganize the violins."

Austin looked at her. He knew he ought to feel annoyed at her obviously desperate attempt at an excuse, but after the way Ally had cried into his chest…he couldn't quite muster any anger. "I'll go home. The store opens in a couple hours anyway—"

"No!" Ally blurted out before blushing and looking at her feet. She visibly swallowed, glancing briefly up at Austin before averting her gaze again.

Austin sighed, his expression softening slightly. "Why?"

"Because…it's…late," Ally explained lamely. "And dark. And raining. And…"

"So? I've driven in worse conditions," Austin commented, not quite seeing why the idea of him leaving was bothering Ally so much. He'd be back in a couple of hours anyway.

Ally gave him a distressed look. "I need you here," she admitted.

Austin sighed. "Ally. What was this dream about? You've never acted like this before."

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Tell me," Austin insisted.

"Austin, just leave it—"

"You need to talk about it!" Austin suddenly snapped.

"I'm fine!" Ally nearly shouted, catching Austin off guard. Still, Austin could feel his frustration taking over the surprise at his girlfriend's outburst.

"Then why won't you tell me?" the singer demanded, slightly harsher than he really meant it to sound.

"Because you _died_, Austin. And I watched it happen!"

In the back of his mind, Austin thought it was rather amazing how quickly anger can dissipate. He opened his mouth, knowing that he should say something or run to her and hold her but he couldn't because he had no idea what to say and he was rooted to the spot.

Ally watched him for a moment and something crossed her expression, but it was too fast for Austin to be sure of what is was. She turned away from him, walking towards the door. "Nevermind. Just…"

"Tell me what happened," Austin said suddenly. Ally turned to look at him, surprise and confusion flitting across her face.

Ally didn't answer right away, and Austin could see the "should I-shouldn't I" war wage in her eyes before she sighed in obvious resignation.

"It was after a concert," Ally began, taking a few steps away from the door, but she still looked ready to run out the door. Austin didn't have a clue why. He didn't reply anything, just slipped his hands into the pockets and listened.

"You were amazing, as usual. Got the audience cheering for an encore. I was watching you from the wing, and it didn't seem like anything was wrong. Just another concert. But afterwards, we met in your dressing room and one of the body guards came in and said that there was a reporter that wanted to get an exclusive with you."

Austin watched as Ally sat down on the couch, clasping her hands together between her knees. It was a relatively new habit she had developed, something that she'd been doing in an effort to get rid of her hair-chewing habit even though Austin told her he'd kinda thought the hair-chewing was cute. Something that was distinctly _her_.

Ally continued talking, though she had yet to meet Austin's eyes. "The reporter came in and you answered some of his questions and we both noticed how he seemed to get more and more upset even though you were giving answers that shouldn't have upset him at all. After a while, he started yelling at you and pulled out this gun and pointed it at me."

Austin felt his eyes widen and heart beat faster just a bit at the thought of Ally being put into that circumstance. Of a gun being pointed at his girl. He averted his gaze and swallowed, but Ally didn't seem to notice.

"And then it all happened at once. You leapt in front of me, he fired the gun, and then fled the room and you were dying in my arms and I couldn't do anything to stop it."

Austin looked up at Ally and noticed how pale she had gone and the distant gaze.

"Ally," he said, his voice thick. Ally looked up at him and was surprised to see the slightly pleading gaze that met hers intensely. "I'm still here."

The singer stood up, and held his arms out. "C'mere," he said and Ally stood up and walked into his embrace, pressing her face into his shoulder. Austin took a deep breath, taking in the familiar scent that was entirely Ally: soap, the paper she wrote her music on, the instruments she spent so much time around, and a faint trace of pickles.

After what felt like forever and yet wasn't nearly long enough, they pulled back slightly. Austin looked at her. "Why didn't you want to tell me?"

"Because…it was just a dream. And you were already stressed about the concert, and—"

"Ally," he cut her off. "Don't do that." Ally looked down but Austin gently took her chin and tilted her head back up so that he could lock gazes with her.

"You can come to me, remember?"

Ally smiled faintly and nodded a bit before breaking it off with a big yawn. Austin smiled softly at her as she blushed.

"Tired, Alls?" Austin asked playfully. Suddenly extremely exhausted, Ally only nodded. The blonde boy led his girlfriend over to the couch and sat them both down. "Then sleep," Austin advised, though Ally was pretty clearly already mostly-asleep. Ally sleepily fisted his white shirt in her hand, as if silently saying "_don't go_."

Austin smiled at her, and kissed her hair. "I'm not going anywhere." Then, he began to sing softly.

"_If you wanna cry, I'll be your shoulder._

_If you wanna laugh, I'll be your smile._

_If you wanna fly, I will be your sky._

_Anything you need, that's what I'll be._

_If you wanna climb, I'll be your ladder._

_If you wanna run, I'll be your road._

_If you want a friend, doesn't matter when,_

_anything you need that's what I'll be._

_You can come to me…"_

…_.._

**A/N: So. Thoughts? PLEASE LEAVE A REVIEW! I need reviews like Ally needs pickles. Like Austin needs pancakes. Like Trish needs a job and like Dez needs…to make a Team Ally shirt company. So please? **


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